Music is the Cure
by NeoCosplayCat626
Summary: Mikan, a newcomer to Alice Academy of Performing Arts, is different. She's not like the other girls. She's stunning and extreamly talented, she sticks out like a sore thumb and Natsume finds himself drawn to her. But Mikan is in her own world, a world of music and pain and love and confusion. Natsume is determined to find out who she really is... NxM. AU. slight OOC. T for swearing
1. Prologue

**I have been meaning to write this for a while and while I had some spare time on my hands I thought 'Why the hell not?' So I sat staring at a blank document for about twenty minutes listening to music before one of my favourite songs started playing and I was like ' Woah that's good. I like that.' And off I went, writing this prologue.  
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**The song was 'Not like the other girls by The Rasmus'. Incase anyone wanted to know, and I highly recommend it.  
**

**Full summary: Mikan, a newcomer to the famous Alice Academy of Performing Arts, is different. She's not like the other girls. She's stunning and extreamly talented unbeknownst to her, she sticks out like a sore thumb and Natsume finds himself drawn to her. Her knowledge and wisdom and her raw passion intrigue him. But Mikan is in her own world, a world of music and pain and love and confusion. With her head in the clouds and her heart in a cage Natsume is determined to find out who she really is... the girl with the hidden wings. NxM. AU. slight OOC. T for swearing**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but this plot. XD  
**

**Enjoy  
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**JM  
**

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One figure stands alone, high on hill over-looking a large estate. The wind whips against the figures face, blowing long, flowing brunette hair high into the air. The figure – a girl takes a deep breath shifts her guitar case on her shoulder and closes her eyes.  
Eyes still closed she takes a step forward and nods.  
"No going back." She opens her eyes and begins her journey down the hill towards the gates of the estate.  
The girl stops at the gates and looks up, tracing the name on the metal with her shimmering hazel eyes.  
_Alice Academy of Performing Arts  
_"Can I help you miss?" A voice causes the girl to jump and focus her eyes on the guard at the gate.  
"Yes," She speaks with invisible confidence and hands the man an envelope from her trouser pocket "I'm Mikan Sakura. Please inform Narumi Anju of my arrival."  
The guard looks sceptically at Mikan, the opens the envelope and scans the letter inside. His eyes widen and her looks up at Mikan again. Handing her the papers, he takes a step back and bows.  
"I shall open the gates, please wait."  
Mikan takes a deep breath and shifts the strap of her guitar case on her shoulder.  
A moment later, the tall, black gates click and swing inwards. Mikan doesn't move forward. Instead she turns to the guard and flashes him a smile that causes him to take a sharp intake of breath. He nods and smiles sheepishly back. Mikan's head swivels and she focuses on the main building ahead of her. Another deep breath and she steps forward, into the grounds of the academy with nothing but the guitar on her back and a confident gleam in her eyes.

From the branches of a large sakura tree that stands alone on a sight hill, a pair of glistening, crimson eyes watch the newcomer approach.

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**Hope you enjoyed. I know it's short, but thats because its just the prologue. I'm writing chapter 1 now so you shouldn't have to wait long...I hope.  
**

**If you feel like it, review please, its appreciated.  
**

**Thanks guys. ****JM  
**


	2. Chapter 1 Introduction Part 1

**Sorry I haven't updated. Fanfiction was being a pain in the ass! It wouldn't let me onto my account, but its okay now. I fixed it :D Happy writer is happy. **

**So I did this chapter in two parts simply because I'm mean and too lazy to edit a long chapter :)**

**Hope you enjoy,  
JM x**

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The grandfather clock strikes its eleventh chime and falls silent. The room I'm in is decorated with luscious velvety red carpets and drapes. Gold framed paintings hang on the cream coloured walls accompanied by dozens of awards. I'm sitting on a heavily pillowed, two-seater sofa that matches the sofa and chairs opposite me. At the far end of the room sits a large, dark rosewood desk covered with papers, pens and odd-looking ornaments. A matching padded rosewood office chair that sits behind it is inhabited by the strange creature that is Narumi Anjo.

He finally looks up and smiles at me. "Mikan, it's so wonderful to see you." He gets up off of his chair and moves around the desk, towards me.

I nod and follow him with my eyes. He's wearing a light purple top with elbow length arms and frills, his bottom half is covered with what-looks-like a beach towel, tied into a knot at the side.

"How have you been?"

"Not bad, considering..." I trail off and look down at my hands that are crossed over my knees.

He notices my discomfort and sits down opposite me with a smile on his face.  
"Well, I'm glad you decided to enrol. I have high hopes for you." I look at him and he sends me a knowing smile.  
"Now, down to business. We have three main courses here at Alice Academy. Music, Dance and Drama." He makes large gestures with his hands as he speaks.  
"We pride ourselves on have the very best facilities to harness and enhance the skills of every talented student that crosses our threshold. To put those facilities to good use, we have several secondary courses. These include the courses; technologies, design, creative writing, instrumental and management. You take one main course and then two secondary, or two main and one secondary etcetera."  
He leans forward and looks me in the eye. "You follow me?"

"Yes, I think so. What courses will I take?"

"Well," He stands up and jogs over to his desk. "That's up to you." He shuffles the papers on his desk then stands back and holds up a form, grinning. "Here's your enrolment form. Fill the first page out, I'll get someone to show you what each course offers, then you can fill out the rest."

I stand and move over to him, take the paper and a pen and sit back down on the sofa.

"Hold on one moment." Narumi turns back to his desk and picks up a phone from under a stack of sheets. "Yes, please send Yu Tobita. Yes. Thank you." He hangs up the phone.

"Your guide will be here shortly."

"Thank you, uh... Narumi Sensei" I scratch my wrist awkwardly and steal a glance at the door.

I hear a sigh and turn back to see Narumi looking at me with a sad glint in his eye. "Narumi sensei?"

He stoops down next to me and puts a hand on my shoulder, looking me in the eyes. "Mikan, I've known you since you were a baby, your mother and father attended this school with me, we were best friends. I was with you for most of your toddle life as your babysitter, don't you remember?"

"Of course I remember." I smile at the memories that flood into my mind. Smiles and laughter, music and singing, home-baked cookies...

"Then goodness Mikan! Call me Naru, like you used to."

"Um, okay, Naru." He gives me a grin and I smile back. A knock at the door causes us both to jump slightly, then Naru chuckles and gets up.

"Come in."

The door opens and a boy, around my age enters. He has short dirty blond hair with short bangs that sway to the right and a pair of round glasses that cover large brown eyes and long eyelashes.

"You, uh, you asked for me Headmaster?"

"Yes. Yu, this is Mikan, Mikan this is Yu. She just transferred here and she needs some help choosing her courses. I was hoping you would show her around so she could see what was available."

"Ah, yes of course, um pleasure to meet you Mikan chan." He holds out a hand and I take it.

"And you. I look forward to my tour." He smiles at me and when I smile back his eyes widen and his cheeks flush.

"Why don't you show her the music block first Yu?" Naru interjects and sends me a knowing smile.

"Yes, ha, okay then. If you'll follow me Mikan chan." He says goodbye to Naru and moves towards the door.

I begin to follow and as I'm moving around the door I turn and smile at Naru. "Thanks headmaster." I say with a wink and close the door behind me.

Yu and I walk for some time until we reach a set of big double doors. "This leads to the music block, There are lots of different classes, I'm in class B of the music department." We keep walking and he tells me about different famous people and Idols that have studied here. Pictures of singers and instrument players line the halls and I study each one as we pass to see if I recognise anyone. "...and on of my personal favourites. This guy here was a genius." He points to a golden frame above us. I shift my eyes and follow is arm.

My eyes widen and I feel my heart flip in my chest.

Yu notices my reaction. "Hey, do you know him?" I look at him, eyes still wide.

"Iz...Izumi Yukihara." I swallow and blink.

"That's right. Hah. I think he's amazing, he wrote so many inspirational pieces and he and his wife used to sing them. Oh, his wife. She came here too, look!" He moves a few paces along the wall and points to a matching frame containing a picture of a beautiful young woman. "She, that is, Yuka Yukihara, was a top student. She played sang and played piano. They were both incredible," His face drops "but they both died a few years ago in a train crash."

I continue to stare, my eyes flicking between the pictures of the two people I knew so well.

"Mikan? You okay?" Yu's voice snaps me back to reality and I look at him, a small smile on my face.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah I'm fine, sorry. I just...They really were amazing." He blinks sadly but quickly waves it off and smiles back.

"Come on, I'll introduce you to some music students while I show you the classrooms." I nod and he turns and begins to walk away. I step to follow him, taking a last look at the pictures next to me. Their smiling faces to blissful and happy.

_Mother. Father. I miss you._

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**Hope you all enjoyed part 1. Next part up soon. Mikan meets the rest of the gang! Well, most of them ;)**

**For now, I shall leave you in suspense.**

**Review please. I like reviews. They make me happy.**

**Thanks guys. JM**


	3. Chapter 2 Introduction Part 2

**Well, it's been a while, but here it is. Chapter 2. Sorry it took sooooo long, i've not ben doing anything, I was simply too lazy to do anything. XD**

**Okay, so you get to meet everyone in this chapter, well, all the important people. Hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice isn't mine and neither are any songs or artists mentioned.**

**Keep writing**

**JM**

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"...And through here is the main auditorium." I follow Yu, my tour guide and newest friend, through a set of black wooden doors that leads to a large, dark hall.

Yu flicks a switch to the side of the doorway and the auditorium flashes to life. The rows upon rows of velveteen chairs are revealed and as my eyes travel downwards towards the back of the room, I see the stage.  
"This is where all the music and drama shows are performed. A lot of people practise in free time here too, when you do, you get full use of the technology departments equipment. It's pretty cool."  
And it really is. Cool as well as large.  
A loud chiming noise startles me. "Oh, lunch time. Come on, it's as good a time as any to show you the canteen."

The canteen, in fact, appeared to be the social home ground you would expect of a high school, but more than that.

People are just milling around all over; some eating, some talking but most tweaking various instruments.

The food doesn't look too bad either. I've picked up my favourite meal; sausages and mashed potato.

Yu leads me to a large wooden table towards the centre of the room. He takes a seat opposite a pretty girl with bright pink hair and a happy grin.

"Iinchou! Hey buddy, whoa! Who's this? Hi, I'm Anna, nice to meet you" Her hand flies out towards me and almost smacks Yu in the face.

"Hi, I'm Mikan. Nice to meet you too, Anna." I take her hand and shake it with a firm grasp.

Another hand shoots out from behind Anna and pulls her back into a seated position. A blue haired girl moves around from behind Anna and flashes me a smile.

"I'm Nonoko, please, don't mind my twin. She's eaten too many happy cookies." She laughs, a light cheerful laugh and pats the empty seat next to her. I step forward and place my tray down then slide into my chair. I look up to find a pair of beautiful amethyst eyes.

"Mikan?"I register the face of the girl who said my name. She has shoulder length, raven hair and porcelain skin. Her facial expression suits her, cold and stoic. Then it hits me; the curve if her lips, the shine to her hair, the light in her eyes. I remember.

"Hotaru? It's seriously you?" I stand up quickly, causing my chair to topple and crash to the floor, but I ignore it. In one swift movement I move around the table and come face to face with my childhood best friend.

"Of course it's seriously me. Who else would it be?"She shakes her head slightly then flashes me a rare smile and opens her arms. I take my chance and pounce on her, wrapping my arms around her neck and squeezing her tight. I smile, feeling her arms gently snake around my waist, and pull back a little to look at her.

"Mikan... let go now."

"Oh, right. Haha sorry Hotaru" I pull away and take my seat again, smiling. I finally catch on to the silence from the table and look around to see everyone staring between me and Hotaru.

"You guys did just see that right? I mean Hotaru-Chan _did_ just smile...right?" Anna says, giving me a questioning look. Nonoko nods and grins at me.

"You've finally broken Hotaru, how'd you do it." Nonoko grins and rests her chin in her hands, looking up at me cheekily. I shake my head, knowing too well if I say anything I'll get hit by Hotaru.

"She hasn't broken me, nor could she ever break me. She is incompetent, lazy, clumsy, gullible, ridiculously optimistic and," she looks at me with a look she's only ever given me once, a look of pure love, "she's all mine." And with that said, Hotaru's face snaps back to its original expression and she goes back to eating whatever the glop is that's piled on her tray.

"Deeeep," Anna slaps her palm to her cheek, "I didn't know you had that in you." Hotaru just shrugs.

"So, Mikan." I turn to Yu. "How do you know Hotaru, if you don't mind me asking?" I shake my head again and smile.

"It's okay, our parents were friends and when we met we became best friends, but..." I look down at my plate, feeling eyes burning into me from all directions. I'm not sure how to continue.

"But she moved away and we lost contact after that." Hotaru doesn't look up; she just nods and goes back to eating. I turn to Yu and flash him a smile to confirm Hotaru's story but frown a little when he blushes and looks away. A tap on my shoulder pulls me away from my confusion and I focus on Nonoko.

"How you liking it here?" she asks in between mouthfuls of what looks like dog food stew.

"Well, in the 2 hours I've been here," I wink at her, "it's not bad for first impressions. It's defiantly big." Anna scoffs beside her, spraying a mouthful of bread across the table. Nonoko slaps her arm and shouts, Yu chuckles, Hotaru rolls her eyes and I stare at them all in amusement.

"Oh my god, Anna. You are so gross." Nonoko shuffles closer to me and wrinkles her nose at Anna.

Anna stutters out a 'sorry' but continues laughing and spitting more food everywhere. I open my mouth to make a remark about the amount of spit ending up in Yu's food, but I'm interrupted by Nonoko slamming her hands on the table to silence us. It takes me a second or so to realise that there's no sound at all, everyone in the canteen has gone silent and everyone, it seems, is staring at the main canteen doors which are midway open.

"Right on time." I hear Nonoko whisper beside me.

Staring at the door all the girls in the room give a little sigh as the strangest boy I have ever seen makes his entrance. His silky raven hair flops freely around on the top of his head and his beautiful crimson eyes seem to pierce me, even though he merely scans over me as he takes his seat at the empty table in the middle of the room, right next to ours.  
Practically clinging to his arm is a bleached blonde haired, blue eyed girl with thick lips and long skinny legs; that she's obviously not afraid to show, along with other body parts. She sits next to him and starts leaning on him and running her hands through his hair.  
Following the couple is another beautiful boy, but he's quite the opposite of the first boy. He has light blonde hair and deep blue eyes, much like the clingy girl's, but less cold. He takes a seat opposite the red eyed boy and swivels his head to the door.  
Next to come through are two almost identical boys with dirty blonde hair and wide grins. One has chestnut brown eyes and the other has slanted eyes so I can't see. They both move round and sit next to the blonde boy. Finally a pretty, tall girl slips through the closing door, loaded with bags, books and folders. Her dark green hair, that looks like she's picked some seaweed off of the beach and permed it She stumbles across the floor and slides into place next to the blonde girl.

"Hey, Sumire go get me some salad. What do you want Natsume?" The blonde girl bats her eyelids and leans across the boy, she called Natsume, even more.

"Luna. Get off me." Natsume pulls away and shoulders Luna back. She just pouts then turns to Sumire who hasn't yet moved.

"Well go then." She growls and gives seaweed head a bit of a shove. The brown eyed boy scowls at Luna and turns to look worriedly at Sumire. I see him mouth something to her and then she nods, stands and goes to join the queue. The boy the whispers in his look-a-likes ear and gets up and follows Sumire.

I turn to Nonoko, who has started eating again. "Who are these guys?"

Anna throws her head around to look at me. "Oh, it's like Twilight, all the gorgeous people walk in and the new girl is like 'Whoa, who are they?' and we introduce them and you subconsciously decide you fancy the Edward type, which in this case would be Natsume and then you fall in love and..." She feigns a heartfelt sigh and receives a slap on the back of the head from Nonoko.

"This isn't Twilight, dumbass. Although, Mikan, if you could have anyone of them...?" She turns to me and Anna looks at me hopefully.

"I'd like to think I'm not that superficial, as to base my first impressions of a potential boyfriend on looks alone." Hotaru catches my eye and gives me a look that says 'I'd disown you if you were'.

Nonoko simply nods and smirks. "Riiiight, okay. Well don't look now, but it seems you've caught someone's eye." She gestures with her head in the direction of the newcomers and I look up to see red eyes staring right at me. Natsume holds my gaze and my insides start to feel weird. The longer he looks at me the more feel he is learning everything about me. It's strange, but it feels like he's looking right inside my mind, seeing everything I am and everything I have been.  
I've always been stubborn, so I keep my eyes locked on his, not daring to blink. Staring into his irises, I see sadness haunting him. A look I have seen so many times. Every time I used to look in the mirror. I frown and he blinks and shifts his eyes back to the blonde boy. I feel a little numb, not sure what just happened or what I'm supposed to do now. I'm snapped out of my trance by a high pitched giggle next to me.

"I saw that! You and Natsume _totally_ had a little moment!" Anna points at me and starts wriggling excitedly in her seat. Nonoko slaps her arm and shushes her, looking worriedly at the people now turning their attention to me. Anna looks around then nods but carries on smiling at me.

"I'm not even..." I sigh and turn to Yu, "can you answer my question? Who are they?" he puts his fork down and glances behind him, The red eyed guy is Natsume Huuga, his best friend is Ruka Nogi, the blonde one, and that girl next to Natsume," He turns back to me "is Luna-"

"_Total _bitch." Anna glares at Luna and chops angrily on her food. Nonoko ignores her outburst and continues.

"The slanted eyed guy is Kitsuneme and the other one is Kokoroyomi."

For the first time in the conversation, Hotaru looks sternly at me and opens her mouth to speak. "They are the most 'popular' people in this academy. They have their way of getting through the terms, we have ours." She sits back in her seat and gives me another look. I know what she means; Stay away, Mikan. They're trouble. Obviously no-one else understands but they don't question her.

"Minus the girls, they're a band too. 'Crimson Labyrinthians'."

"Anyway, do you actually know how this place works?" I look at Nonoko and she nods, smiling. "Well, this is the college division, it's actually new. It used to only be a secondary school but the headmaster wanted to be able to keep the leavers on as most had no idea what to do next. The headmaster, Narumi, is a bit nutty but he's awesome. You'll find out soon enough but he really likes to be 'down with the kids' as he puts it, so he pops up randomly from time to time, to see us all, and have a chat." I nod, pretending to be taking it all in. I don't want to tell anyone, not yet, about his relation to me or my parents.

"Mikan, finish up and we'll show you the rest of the school." Anna gets up to put her tray away and Nonoko smiles, then follows suit. I shove the few remaining mouthfuls of my meal into my mouth and get up to do the same.

On the way to the bin, I pass the twins who wave and tell me where to put my tray. I shove my food in the bin and turn to head to the tray trolley when I collide with something so solid it feels like I've hit a brick wall. My hand shoots up to my nose and I look at it, sighing in relief when I see it's not bleeding.

"Ouch." A strong voice from above causes me to look up in shock and surprise.

"Oh god, sorry. I thought I'd walked into a wall or something..."My voice trails off and brown eyes clash with crimson once again. "Uhh... hi, sorry about that. I have a tendency to walk into stuff."

Staring down at me is Natsume, the beautiful stranger I had a staring contest with. The sadness is still there, evident in his expressionless face. "You're new right?" I nod.

"First day." He nods. I shift from one foot to the other awkwardly.

"I'm Natsume." I smile to myself, happy to be relieved of the awkward silence.

"Mikan." I say, holding my hand out. He looks down then takes it in a firm handshake.

"Well, I'm sure I'll see you around." And he's gone. Heading back to his seat. Empty handed. No tray or plate, and no reason to come up to me in the first place. I put my tray away and head back to my table, confused. I honestly can't help but wonder why he looked so sad, and why it seems no one else has picked up on it. Taking my seat, I'm brought to light on the plans for the continuation of my tour. We're to see the rest of the music department, then onto the dance halls, the instrumental classrooms, the theatre classrooms, the tech department, writing and management classrooms and finally the dorms. I vaguely hear Anna and Nonoko begin a story, about how a girl in their dance class broke something in a routine and ended up destroying half the classroom because she was a melodramatic priss who wasn't allowed to be the star of the next recital, but I'm not really listening. I desperately want to talk to Hotaru; catch up on everything, ask her more about the mysterious Natsume Huuga and if she could see the sadness in his eyes. I begin to think more about his eyes and I can't help but look up, to once again find him looking at me. His gaze falters then focuses, and in that split second he opens up. I see emotions I couldn't see before; confusion, pain and exhaustion. And then it's gone and he's looking at me but not on my eyes, like before, but on my hair; falling over one shoulder. He looks completely mesmerised by it until the blonde girl, Luna, taps him on the shoulder and reigns back his attention. His facial expression; pure and raw a moment ago turns void of all emotions as he looks into her eyes, frowns then turns to the blonde boy and nods. The four boys get up in unison and move away from the table, leaving Luna and Sumire to wonder what happened.

"YO! MIKAN!" I jump in my seat at a loud shout from Nonoko. "You spaced out. Come on girl, we're all done now, so let's go." She stands and follows the others who have already made it half way across the canteen. Left to dwell on the eventful lunchtime, I decide to follow and get the tour over with. I only hope I get to my dorm quickly so I can sleep, I'm tired from my travelling and the people at this academy seem very energetic, but even so; I've decided to stay.

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**Well, that's it. The second chapter. It's longer than any other chapter i've done, but now i've uploaded it here, it looks really short. ****I swear it was like 5 pages long on Word.**

**All reviews are awesome, please leave one.**

**Thanks guys. ****JM**


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